France is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, but is not known to possess or develop any chemical or biological weapons. France is the only member of the European Union to possess independent (non-NATO) nuclear weapons. France was the fourth country to test an independently developed nuclear weapon, doing so in 1960 under the government of Charles de Gaulle. The French military is currently thought to retain a weapons stockpile of around 300 operational (deployed) nuclear warheads, making it the fourth-largest in the world, speaking in terms of warheads, not megatons. The weapons are part of the country's Force de dissuasion, developed in the late 1950s and 1960s to give France the ability to distance itself from NATO while having a means of nuclear deterrence under sovereign control.
Reggane is a town and commune, and the capital of Reggane District, in Adrar Province, central Algeria. Reggane lies in the Sahara Desert near an oasis. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 20,402, up from 14,179 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 3.8%. Berber tribes and people live in and around Reggane.
The French Community was the constitutional organization set up in October 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which had reorganized the colonial empire in 1946. While the Community remained formally in existence until 1995, when the French Parliament officially abolished it, it had effectively ceased to exist and function by the end of 1960, by which time all the African members had declared their independence and left it.
Adrar is the administrative capital of Adrar Province, the second largest province in Algeria. The commune is sited around an oasis in the Touat region of the Sahara Desert. According to a 2008 census, it has a population of 64,781, up from 43,903 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 4.0%.
Tamanrasset, also known as Tamanghasset or Tamenghest, is an oasis city and capital of Tamanrasset Province in southern Algeria, in the Ahaggar Mountains. It is the chief city of the Algerian Tuareg. It is located an altitude of 1,320 metres (4,330 ft). As of the 2008 census, it has a population of 92,635, up from 72,741 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 2.5%.
Gerboise Bleue was the codename of the first French nuclear test. It was conducted by the Nuclear Experiments Operational Group (GOEN), a unit of the Joint Special Weapons Command on 13 February 1960, at the Saharan Military Experiments Centre near Reggane, French Algeria in the Sahara desert region of the Tanezrouft, during the Algerian War. General Pierre Marie Gallois was instrumental in the endeavour, and earned the nickname of père de la bombe A.
Agate was the codename of the first French nuclear underground test. It was conducted by the Joint Special Weapons Command on 7 November 1961, at the Oasis Military Experiments Centre near In Ekker, French Algeria at the Tan Afella in the Hoggar Mountains, during the Algerian War.
The "Béryl incident" was a French nuclear test, conducted on 1 May 1962, during which nine soldiers of the 621st Groupe d'Armes Spéciales unit were heavily contaminated by radioactivity.
Operation Charioteer was a series of 16 nuclear tests conducted by the United States in 1985–1986 at the Nevada Test Site. These tests followed the Operation Grenadier series and preceded the Operation Musketeer series.
Events from the year 1960 in France.
Gerboise bleue is a 2009 documentary film.
In Ekker was a series of 13 underground nuclear tests and five complementary subcritical atmospheric experiments by France between November 1961 and February 1966. The bombs were detonated at the Oasis Military Experiments Centre also named CEMO near In Ekker, French Algeria at the Tan Afella in the Hoggar Mountains, by the Nuclear Experiments Operational Group (GOEN), a unit of the Joint Special Weapons Command. At the beginning of the test series, the area was controlled by France as part of French Algeria, which was in the midst of its war of independence. While Algeria won its independence in 1962, the tests were controversially allowed to continue until 1966 as part of the peace treaty.
The 1975–1978 nuclear test series was a group of 29 nuclear tests conducted by France in 1975–1978. These tests followed the 1971–1974 French nuclear tests series and preceded the 1979–1980 French nuclear tests series.
Gerboise Blanche was the codename of the second French nuclear test. It was conducted by the Nuclear Experiments Operational Group (GOEN), a unit of the Joint Special Weapons Command on 1 April 1960, at the Saharan Military Experiments Centre near Reggane, French Algeria in the Sahara desert region of Tanezrouft, during the Algerian War.
The history of France's military nuclear program recounts the path that led France to develop a military nuclear program after World War II. The establishment of the French Nuclear Deterrence Force was based on a French nuclear testing program that began on February 13, 1960, and ended on January 27, 1996.
Gerboise Verte is the codename for a French nuclear test conducted on 25 April 1961. The test took place at the Centre Saharien d'Expérimentations Militaires (CSEM), 50 km south of Reggane, Algeria, then a French department and was designed as an atmospheric test. This was the fourth French nuclear atmospheric test, after Gerboise Bleue, Gerboise Blanche, and Gerboise Rouge.
Gerboise Rouge is the codename for a French nuclear test conducted on 27 December 1960 in Reggane, Algeria. This was the 3rd French nuclear test, after Gerboise Bleue and Gerboise Blanche, completing the colors of the French flag.
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